NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 27: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas coughs during his address at the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, 2018 in New York City. World leaders gathered for the 73rd annual meeting at the UN headquarters in Manhattan. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to rescind statements accusing Israel of intentionally spreading COVID-19 to Palestinians.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Abu Rukun said in an April 17 statement, “In recent weeks we have witnessed, and experienced, a variety of baseless complaints from senior figures in the Palestinian Authority, extending even to misleading and slanderous remarks against the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), the security establishment, the State of Israel, and the Israeli public.”
Recent remarks from Palestinian leaders include Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh alleging that Israeli soldiers are spreading the virus by planting it on car handles. PA spokesperson Ibrahim Milhem also recently accused Israelis of being “agents of this pandemic,” stating that Israel is “throwing infected workers at the side of the road. Is this assistance? They come and arrest and spit in the streets. Is this assistance?”
Abu Rukun said, “We see those remarks and accusations as crossing a red line and disparaging the enormous efforts that Israel is making in the face of the shared challenge and crisis besetting the entire region. I call upon the Palestinian leadership to retract its baseless declarations.”
He added “that there could be repercussions in various spheres.”
The PA did acknowledge on March 17 that it had formed a joint operations room with Israel to fight COVID-19. COGAT also delivered 3,000 test kits and 50,000 masks from the World Health Organization (WHO) to the PA on March 25.
Additionally, the Post reported on April 16 that the Israeli government is providing a loan to the PA help it combat the virus; the amount of the loan was not publicly disclosed.
“It is our fundamental obligation in order to ensure the safety of all our peoples,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said. “This disease shows again and again that it does not recognize borders and that only through dialogue and sharing resources can we fight it.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted, “World knows #Israel will come through to help #Palestinians. Too bad, Palestinians couldn’t rely on their own leaders to put their people, not hate first!”
World knows #Israel will come through to help #Palestinians. Too bad, Palestinians couldn’t rely on their own leaders to put their people, not hate first! https://t.co/joVhR6VWyZ
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) April 17, 2020
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